Teen of Steel
by JulesCasserres
Summary: It's hard for a boy to find himself in this world. It's even harder if the boy has superhuman abilities and the weight of the world on his shoulders. Superboy spends his gap year between high school and college trying to find what he can do with his life and his years on Earth. Finding himself, though, takes a bigger toll on him than he could imagine, and on those close to him.


The moon fills the sky with its bright luminance so much that it could be believed that it isn't way past midnight. Not a single cloud filled the sky as the clocks around Rhode Island turned to 2:13 a.m. The stars shone brightly over the calm waves on the coastline. The air was silent with the ghost of winds while the waves of Happy Harbor crash into the only mountain the small town had. The mountain was an ordinary one that was owned by some private organization that no one could pinpoint and was surrounded by an array of trees and plush green. There really wasn't anything special about the rock since it wasn't tall enough to have snow at the tip year-round nor did it have unique herbs growing at the base. It was just a mountain that no citizen of Happy Harbor really visited.

It also happened to be the previous base for the world's greatest line of defense: The Justice League.

At least, that was the rumor. That the seven greatest heroes of this world were stationed at this town; which made a tad bit of sense. Happy Harbor was such a small town that nobody would even think about looking there for the finest; why would they when some couldn't even find it on a map sometimes.

But those rumors were just that: rumors. There was never any conformation from the heroes. Nothing to make the citizens think that they were actually sitting maybe 10 miles away from city hall. It was, however, enough for the city to change the name of the mountain to Mount Justice.

The men and women of Happy Harbor, for the most part, have routines. They go about their day, doing normal human activities, not necessarily worrying about the terrible things that come into this world, both from Earth and not. They wouldn't spend their lives wondering when the next baddie would come; wondering which Megacity would be next to have the greatest disaster. At least, not the way some do.

The way heroes do.

The superheroes.

Like the superhero that flies in the sky with a long red cape and faster than a speeding bullet does. Like the superhero that deflect bullets with wrist cuffs and fight in heels does. Like the superhero that lies await in the dark and is rumored to be everywhere.

Those heroes that could have everything they work to keep this world safe from the dangers that reside on the far side of the galaxy. Those heroes that the humans of the Earth, for the most part, trust.

Those heroes that could have everything taken away because of a protégé's wrong.

"What were you thinking, M'gann?!"

The yelling would have never been heard by the citizens. Not because of the super-hearing thing, but because everything about Mount Justice was a fortress. It was secure with no sign that it could be breached from the outside. Much like the couple fighting deep within the cave.

"Be quiet, Conner! You have no idea what you're talking about. They were coming right for us! What was I supposed to do? Let them shoot at us? We don't all have impenetrable skin!"

The further inside the cave people go, the more they wonder how it was ever any doubt that superheroes resided there. Furniture laid in rooms while pizza boxes and files of who knows what were left to be picked up again later on coffee tables.

"As if that has anything to do with this! You have the most power on this team and you're misusing it!"

Room after room filed down hallways. Some being training rooms that held inside the best workout equipment that someone can build/buy. Others were dorm rooms for the members of the team that didn't necessarily have a home. A majority were empty seeing as a most members of the team had homes and families and established lives on this planet that were more extensive than arriving one day or opening your eyes to reveal a life past what you knew.

"Misuse it? I save people! What do you do? Destroy everything?"

The team that resided in these halls, however, wasn't the Justice League. It was a smaller team; a covert team that wasn't ready to be in the spotlight of the world like the elder heroes are. A team that the Justice League wanted to keep out of the public's eye along with their hateful comments and rude judgments. A team that consisted of a group of teenagers that had abnormal abilities that fixated themselves away from the average student.

One of these extraordinary teenagers happened to be Conner Kent.

Kon-El.

Superboy.

"I don't kill people M'gann! Those two planes today; they had people inside."

Superboy was tired. After the two day long mission the team had just returned from in Africa, even a boy with Kryptonian DNA could feel the weight of it on his shoulders and it was evident from the dark circles underneath the dark blue of his eyes. He couldn't sleep, though. Not without setting things straight with his teammate; his girlfriend.

"They had orders to kill us on sight! What was I supposed to do? Have a little chat with them while they get their kryptonite bullets ready?"

M'gann, nice, little Miss Martian herself, was yelling as loud as she could without her voice breaking. The normally smiling, sweet natured green-skinned beauty had her face turning an odd brownish color with the anger boiling inside of her. She couldn't understand why her boyfriend couldn't make out why she had done what she did. It was for the sake of the team.

 _It's always for the sake of the team._

That's how it's been the past few months with the couple. Fighting. Yelling. Screaming. All over the way M'gann had conducted herself on missions where she used force in order for her friends to get home. The amount used every time, she felt, was necessary. And the morals of her boyfriend wasn't going to change her opinion. If they were even his morals.

"M'gann." Conner started off slowly, as if he was trying to get through a thick skull; however, M'gann felt more like he was looking at a child. "We can't just kill whoever poses a threat. We have rules to abide by. I don't know how it is on Mars, but surely there couldn't be-"

"You know, you're right." M'gann started off, bitterness dripping through her teeth. "You don't know how it is on Mars. You don't know a single thing about how I was raised! And another thing!" She spitted, stepping forward, poking a finger into his chest; into his crest. "Is that even you talking?! Because, from where I'm standing, it sounds a lot like the shield."

With that being said, M'gann's eyes went white. And Conner's eye grew a fraction of an inch. Conner could feel his body being lift the slightest bit off the ground and he could hear the door behind him being slammed against the walls. Hurriedly, he closed his eyes, readying himself for the impact. He felt the whoosh of the air flying past his face and his hair blowing into his eyes as he was flung backwards into the wall and the collision as his back connected with hard concrete. His head snapped back, his eyes flew opened as the wall behind him _crunched_ with his weight.

M'gann watched as his face contorted into one of pain for a nanosecond before his sculpted features returned to that of the handsome boy she knows. When his feet regained contact with the ground and he stabilized his stance, he looked up; his eyes reflecting the surprise he felt, his mind going into overdrive wondering what he had done wrong to deserve being thrown.

She didn't get to look into those beautiful blue eyes for long, for she was already at the door, one hand in a fist while the other gripped the edge of the frame with a force that had her knuckles turning white. Before Conner could even get a word out, the door was slammed and he clenched his teeth as the sound resounded in his entire being for seconds after.

Conner stood up after a few moments of staring at where his girlfriend was just standing. However, he just waited there, watching the door, thinking back to M'gann's words and whether or not she was going to come back out. He wondered if M'gann was truly right hat he was thinking with the shield instead of his own brain. Conner looked down at his shirt and reached up towards his shield, grabbing a chunk of his shirt. He wondering if that was true. That if he was thinking with _his_ ideology rather than making decisions for himself.

Conner squeezed his eyes, pondering if what he had done three years ago, when he finally declared his independence from N.O.W.H.E.R.E. and terminated any connection he had with them permanently, had accomplished anything. Had he really traded one "owner" for another?

Then Conner's eyes snapped open and he stared at M'gann's door. He didn't. He did not trade owners. _He_ was different. _He_ didn't treat Kon like some guard dog. They were equals and _he_ was the one who guided him when Kon looked lost.

Conner looked to M'gann's bedroom and was about to knock on her door; to tell her that she was wrong, but something made his step halt – freeze. He didn't understand it but Conner was scared; terrified to see M'gann angry again, to see what she would do to him like every other time they fought. He stepped towards the end of the hall, where his room laid, deciding that he had had enough of the yelling for one night and that he couldn't stand much more. Besides, a light pressure began to grow in the corner of his temple.

M'gann, however, was anything but tired as she pressed herself against her door. She had gingerly entered herself inside of Conner's mind, to see where, exactly, his thoughts were leading him and, when she didn't like where they were going, she increased the pressure without letting her presence known. Once she had heard the soft _thump_ of Conner's door closing down the hall, M'gann slid herself to the floor, her back resting against the door. She pulled her knees towards her chest and wrapped her arms around them, bringing her hand up and chewing her thumb nail as her anxieties began to pile up in the pit of her stomach.

She didn't want Conner to be upset with her. Not someone like Conner. He had options, with his strong, broad shoulders and tantalizing pink lips, Conner could have anyone he wanted. Especially with that she-devil he's been hanging around with.

Supergirl.

Conner had reassured her that Kara was his cousin, his friend and nothing more. However, M'gann didn't listen. All she saw was a beautiful blonde girl that Conner was infatuated with. Someone that Conner could connect with that wasn't her. Someone that made him a new uniform that he preferred to wear, contrary to the one that she had complimented him in on numerous occasions. Someone she had to compete with. Just like her dozens of siblings and cousins on Mars.

She couldn't lose him. Anything but him.

M'gann waited an hour or so, waiting to feel Conner's mind at ease, signaling that he was sleeping, before she took a step out of her room. Well, not necessarily stepped more than phasing herself through her door and flying down the hallway to avoid preventable noises. With Conner's super-hearing, every precaution didn't feel like overkill.

She slipped quietly into his room, phasing through the door and keeping her eyes on her boyfriend's body as he laid on his side, arms curled underneath his head; his face the personification of perfection as the light from his bathroom draped across his face, outlining his jaw and hollows of his neck in the most enticing way. M'gann reached out towards him with her mind until his body moved so that he was sleeping on his back, his arms on either side of him and his face calmly facing the ceiling. She glided to him, just enough that she hovered above his being, until she slid her way on top of him, straddling his waist. M'gann didn't feel embarrassed; she was used to this position.

She placed her fingers on Conner's temple, making sure that he slept like a rock, before she positioned her forehead against his, closing her eyes and focusing on merging her conscious with his subconscious. She had done this a thousand times, with hundreds of people. But none of them were as close to her as Conner; close enough to recognize her patterns and predict her next move. She only hoped that Conner was so out of it from the mission to notice.

She found an opening and entered his memory.

The thing about human brains, M'gann realized early on her years on Earth, was that they were all arranged differently. Some could be the cleanest place, like a five-star restaurant. Others could be cluttered, with piles and jumbles of information that could take M'gann hours to sort through.

M'gann couldn't decide if the mixture that was Conner's brain was lucky or unlucky.

The book cases aligning the walls were tall and and looked to be made of some sort of dark wood. They were filled from the top shelf to the bottom with thick books. The walls were barren and were dark and smooth. The few light fixtures in the room were hanging low from the ceiling in different colors ranging from stark black and a vibrant indigo. The lights illuminating the room weren't the best and gave enough light in the middle of where they landed however, as you wandered away from it, faded and faded until total darkness enveloped the tips of the bookcases. A beautiful dark stained wood lined the floors and stretched until the end of the room. This place wasn't what caught M'gann's attention.

The tables lining the middle of the room were piled with open books and loose leaf papers that scattered to the edges of the tables and left for an individual to come back to later. There were about ten tables in the room making a circle rows that surround a desk in the middle. The whole of the sanctuary reminded M'gann of the library in Washington that held any and all public information on the U.S. government. She remembered it from one if her first dates with Conner back after they graduated from high school and how they took his motorcycle and even had a picnic close to some of the monuments gracing Washington D.C.

This got her mind back on track and she began scanning the spines of the books on the cases. She began with the ones closest to the opening she came through and went through them as quickly and efficiently as she could.

 _Information._

This label persisted down as she flew for, what felt like, minutes, but what really was seconds. Jitters raked her body as her nerves were on end. She couldn't shake the uneasiness she felt in the pit of her stomach. M'gann knew if Conner woke up, with her on top of him, in his head, he most definitely would not be happy.

She felt that way for a few more moments until, finally, she saw something different. She always knew Conner's knowledge was quite expansive due to the teachings he went through but everything academic he knew took up half of the room. She felt relief as the new label appeared but it was short lived as the name alone made her annoyed.

 _Kara Zor-El._

She continued down, reading labels such as _Lex Luther_ and _N.O.W.H.E.R.E._ until, finally, she came across what she needed.

 _Missions_

It was an odd label however, when she saw that this particular category had about five separate bookcases to itself, M'gann wanted to pull her hair out.

She went to the very last one, figuring that these were the ones most recent and, with her hands shaking, went searching. M'gann's fingers flew across the spines, adrenaline and a caffeine-like rush filling her blood stream. She had just finished the first one and was moving on the next when she heard it. It was hard to miss.

It sounded like a bomb was going off. Well, more like a series of bombs and explosions. And sirens. Lots and lots of sirens filled the air as M'gann spun around trying to find the source. But she couldn't waste too much time on that. If her three years of experience on covert missions was any indication, she needed to do what she came here to do and not worry too much on what's going on around you. She tried to remember what Robin liked to say on their missions.

 _Get what you came for._

She continued to look relentlessly, flipping through the binders that filled this particular book case but finding that they were from a few months ago.

She skipped to the next one

 _Be aware of your surroundings. But, if the task on hand is that important, which I'm guessing it is, be mildly alerted about what is going on._

It had to be in the bottom shelf. There was no other place it could be, since, she looked to the next set of cabinets read _DNA._

Not knowing how much times she had left, she ripped a handful of files that raked the inside and quickly closed the binder and put it back in its place.

Then, she took off.

 _Stay on the ground as long as you can,_

She ran for a dark corner where she made a bin appear as if from thin air. Then she levitated the files to the bin and skidded to a halt a safe distance away.

She put all her focus on the bin and the compounds in the air. She had tried this before with her uncle; a defense move that could help her against her greatest weakness. Her uncle's words flooded her mind back to their training sessions.

 _By finding how to create fire, work backwards and find how to neutralize it._

She figured the elements in the air and mixed what needed to be mixed, like baking. Only with a bigger boom than the oven would have.

Another blast came from somewhere behind her. Or maybe somewhere to the side. Maybe even up. She couldn't tell anymore.

She felt the ions; their need to want to stay together. And once she pulled them from their molecules, she felt them pull towards their combustion.

She let go.

Yet another explosion sounded, except this one felt like it was right in her ear; as if it detonated right next to her.

M'gann couldn't hear that great for a couple of seconds. And she even fell to her knees, covering her ears and squeezing her eyes shut, trying to block out the terrible ringing in her head.

She looked up through her fuzzy vision and finally saw a source of flame. And M'gann knew it wasn't from any bomb.

She grinned, weakly, and closed her eyes.

M'gann snapped out of her semi-unconscious state and retorted back into the air. She brought up her hands to her mouth, not wanting to make any unneeded noise whilst straying her eyes on Conner's face. His hair was wet from a shower and droplets fell down his face. However, from the upset look on his sleepy face, it could have easily been sweat.

M'gann's heart was beating furiously, almost out of her chest, until she couldn't take the suspension anymore and phased through the door.

And the wall.

Until, finally, she was outside the Cave, flying in the black sky, filled with stars, illuminated by the moon's brightness.

She didn't stop when she saw the lights of New York City and every clock read 4 A.M.

She didn't stop when she saw a woman being mugged (she knocked out the guy using her telekinesis).

She only stopped when she was finally at an apartment building that looked like any other building; like a hundred ordinary humans could live there. Like an extraterrestrial wasn't living under the roof.

M'gann dropped herself off at the dark mouth of the alley right next to the apartment complex, the shadows enveloping her form as she disappeared.

Moments later, a dark-skinned girl with bright red hair ran out of the shadows and directly into light that came from the inside of the lobby. She ran, through the make-shift foyer, up the stairs, not letting her muscles relax from the flight. They wouldn't even if she did rest. Too much adrenaline pump through her system.

"Uncle John!"

If her yelling was a surprise to her uncle's neighbors, they gave no indication. No one came to see why a young girl was knocking – banging – on a fellow tenant's door at this hour. None came to see if the lady was alright. This was the human community that her uncle chose to live in.

But as M'gann looked side to side, up and down the hallway, she couldn't decide if that was a blessing or not. She felt like she was on the verge of tears.

Suddenly, the door was flung open, standing there, tall and strong, was her uncle: John Jones.

The Martian Manhunter.

"M'gann! Do you know the time?" He whispered in an angry-like way but sleep was still evident in his dark black eyes. He ushered his niece inside, keeping an arm around her shoulders, trying to get a reading on her brain waves and bodily functions, checking if she was okay. "What are you doing out at a time like this?"

He closed the door behind her and, hearing the _click_ of the lock, proceeded to morphing back to his original form. Green skin took over the black and bright yellow eyes faded back to their rightful place. His hair, albeit short and kinky, disappear altogether and left his head clean and shiny. M'gann let the same process rake through her exhausted body.

M'gann didn't really notice it too much. For one, she had seen herself do the task an hundred times. And two, her teary eyes disrupted her vision.

"I'm sorry."

She threw herself into his arms, relishing the cold his body gave off. The hardness of his body comforting her in a way no one on this planet could. A family bond.

 _It isn't what Conner can give._

 _I'll never hurt him again._

"I'm so sorry. I'll never do it again!"

A sob retched its way up M'gann's throat, making an ugly sound that resonate inside the martian's ears, making him cringe. Hearing the closest family he had was almost too much to bear. However, the guilt he felt coming from her chest was definitely nothing to ignore.

"M'gann." J'ozz started slowly, not understanding a thing coming from the young ladies lips.

"What did you do?"

At the cave, the sun was coming up at its usual 600 hours, according to Red Tornado. The android could see the colors of the sky from the opening of the cave in his room at the tip of the mountain. Hues of red, orange and yellow flooded his vision as he awaken from his nightly charging. Beeping engulfed his hearing system, making the wonders of the world's sounds go unnoticed by the drone.

He sat up, slowly, getting the creaks out of his joints, turning what was supposed to be his neck side to side while putting a note-to-self in his memory sector that he needed to oil his links soon.

He pulled his charging plug from his waist outlet, letting the buzzing fill his ears as the world slowly faded in.

That was when he heard the screaming.

Tornado had been den mother for as long as the team has been formed those three years ago; however, in those three years he had never heard a commotion such as the one occurring. Red Tornado got up from the table, opened the access shutters to the cave using the control system to Mount Justice in his head, and dropped to the ground level, detecting where the source of the agony was from.

 _Superboy._

The boy's room laid at the very end of the 3rd hall, and Red Tornado wasted no time in getting to him, wondering what the other two Kryptonians would do if they knew that the boy was hurt under his watch.

Pushing the override code to the dorm rooms, Red Tornado entered to quite the sight.

Usually when he processed screams in the cave, it was the girl martian and the boy together doing some human activity that Red Tornado had no interest in comprehending. However, today it was something else entirely.

The boy laid on the bed, sweat particles running down his face; his body dripping in the liquid. He gripped the bed sheets with a vigor that Tornado wanted nothing to do with, considering he heard the fabric tear effortlessly. It was the boy's face, however, that had Red Tornado calling Batman.

Conner's expression was one of pure agony. Short pants escaped his mouth as his eyes squeezed shut, not letting their owner see.

"What is it?"

The ominous voice spoke up suddenly as Red Tornado had sat down next to the boy on his bed. Not touching him but staying close enough to scan his vitals.

"It's the boy. It's Superboy."

"What?"

"Something in his body is wrong."

"His pulse?"

"It's at an alarming speed."

Red Tornado reached out, putting his hands on the boy's strong, wet shoulders and proceeded to shaking him.

"Conner. Wake up. It's just a nightmare."

"Tornado, don't!"

Before Red Tornado could process what was happening, Superboy's eyes shot open, not revealing his usual bright, baby blue eyes, but releasing two red beams that shot straight out.

Straight out into Red Tornado's face.

The drone's head flew back, and with Kon moving his head to the side, the android's head was cut clean off. Red Tornado's body fell on top of Superboy but the boy barely noticed.

Kon shut his eyes, not wanting anything around him to be furthered destroyed. But, moments later, it just felt like a way to block out the world. Everything was hurting. His joints ached. His head pounded with the migraine of the century. He was hearing too much. Car's honking. Dog's barking. Millions of conversations screamed in his ears and Batman yelling about his confusion over Red Tornado's transmitter wasn't making it any better.

He brought his hands to his ears, trying to block out what little he could, but it barely did a thing. He could still hear everything. Something beeping on Red Tornado's person. The emergency sirens the cave had put on automatically since Red Tornado was currently out of commission.

Kon didn't understand why all these noises hurt so much. He had always had super-hearing and he sometimes got headaches from the constant sounds ringing in his ears. But this felt like something totally different. Everything sounded like they were being done right next to him at an obnoxious level.

But when Kon heard the Zeta tubes turn on and the monotone words of "B:01 Batman", he calmed down. A little. It was comforting. But it wasn't nearly enough.

The Dark Knight made it the boy's room in record time and, upon surveying the scene in front of him, went to work.

He ran to bed, scoping the drone's fallen half head and grabbed Red Tornado by his arm, hoisting him up and on his shoulder.

"Come on Kon." Batman spoke, but it was just a hair below a whisper; so much so that Kon almost believed that he imagined it. But he couldn't imagine this pain. No one could. In the midst of Kon trying to ignore the pain, if even for a second, Batman grabbed him by the arm, pulling him up and out of bed and drawing the arm around his broad shoulders.

"Try not to grab me, boy." Batman tried to keep his voice soft but, to Kon, especially being in such close proximity, just made everything that much more painful.

"Remember I'm only human."

From the paths and turns the Leaguer was taking, Kon could deduce that they were in the main commons room, and were fast approaching the Zeta tubes. And, before they even were close to the tubes, as if sensing Batman's presence alone, the tubes' power grew causing a bluish color to burn behind of Kon's closed eyelids.

"Authoriaztion?"

Being outside his room, without the walls as some small kind of barrier, everything sounded louder; and the stain they put on Superboy's ear was absolutely relentless.

"Batman. B:01"

"Destination?"

"S.T.A.R. Labs, Fawcett City."

While the tubes began to identify the passenger's molecular structure, the noise of what felt like millions poured into Kon's eardrums.

And, that's when Kon started screaming, letting his frustration and pain flow out of being and out into the world.

The sky was filled to its brim with the brightness that came off the sun in the distance, despite it being 6:30 in the morning. Birds flew around the property of S.T.A.R. Labs and the grass sparkled with a healthy vigor that Albert Michaels thought he should complement the gardener if given the chance. But, the renowned scientist thought, then again, is right now really a time to be admiring the scenery.

Mr. Michaels went back to staring at the sky, appreciating the shapes of the clouds and how they reminded him of the shapes his daughter sees every day. Blue managed to peak out throughout the vast sky as he though back to what the Batman said to the staff earlier.

" _He_ doesn't necessarily trust labs after what they did with his DNA so many times." He spoke to the room after he just called the big guy, expressing his warning but also with his own undertone of distaste. "Neither does the little one. Just be aware of that."

Then Albert thought back to how all the scientists on the immediate call team met up in the lounge and proceeded to draw straws.

Taking off his glasses and a dry cloth, Mr. Michaels looked down at his shoes to clean his spectacles, contemplating if this was good or bad luck.

On one hand, this man had saved his family – the world – on numerous occasions. He saves cities single handedly and poses no threat to anyone. Plus, this man is entitled to his opinion.

 _But the hatred he seemed to have for any laboratory did render to be skeptical towards._

However, he was a man as much as he himself was and nothing to be frightened of.

"Mr. Michaels."

A whisper behind him from one of the security guards broke Michaels out of his thoughts. That wasn't what got his attention, however.

It was two pairs of red boots, one which seemed to be twice the size of his own pair of tennis shoes and the other that looked no bigger than a size five, that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

Mr. Michaels' head snapped up and, not fully realizing his new proximity with the man, came face to chest to one of the most well-known symbols on the planet. Almost instantaneously, he took a step back as his hands becoming unsteady and dropped his glasses.

A blur of blue and red rushed in front of him as a small hand caught the weak piece of wire at the nose bridge and returned them to their rightful owner in perfect condition.

But the girl that gave them back to Mr. Michaels was no doubt as weak as she looked.

She was Supergirl.

The girl of steel had on her classic uniform on; a blue dress with gold accents at the edges adorned her petite figure. A gold colored belt connected around her small waist. The original red S laid flat against her chest as her straight blonde hair obscured one corner. Her eyes are what mostly caught his attention though. A bright blue, guarded and aged even though the girl herself didn't look a day over sixteen – maybe seventeen. A blue that seemed to penetrate his very soul; deep into his very being.

He took back his glasses from her calloused hand.

"Thank you."

"Where is he?"

Her voice said that she meant business and she didn't even try to hide the worry that filled it.

A reason he didn't become a doctor.

He found his courage and looked into the man of steel's eyes.

Into the heart of Superman.

His eyes, albeit the same sea blue as the young lady, held perhaps less damage but still had an unreadable tone that laid the scientist fluent in four languages clueless. He remained unmoving, his strong jaw set whilst his pink lips thin in a straight line.

Mr. Michaels stole his gaze away from the Superman as he looked towards the girl, a slightly less scary sight.

"Follow me."

He turned towards the doors, inside the laboratory that did experiments on whatever extraterrestrial these scientist happened to get their hands on.

That didn't make the two Kryptonians to hesitate for a second.

Supergirl went first, her red boots, almost new looking, not making a noise as she took long strides, followed by Superman, his cape flowing in the wind after them.

As the heroes walked further into the lab, Kara couldn't help but notice no human even graced the hallways. Kara also couldn't help but notice that heartbeats pumped furiously behind closed doors and, what Kara guessed were, two way glass windows. She looked slowly down the length of one window, looking through the glass to the pairs of eyes staring; analyzing.

Until she saw her cousin's reflection.

He was looking straight ahead, his face composed in a way his eyes weren't.

She followed his example: head straight, eyes forward.

It didn't take long to get to their destination, for the scientist stopped in front of a pair of tall dull doors. He turned towards the two and opened his mouth to speak.

"Thanks."

It was Supergirl again, her words clipped, curt and to the point as she and Superman rushed past the man, pushing through the doors to a sight they never wanted to see.

A room full of technological equipment that beeped and machines that wrote down statistics along with twenty humans, all in white lab coats and holding clipboards. The room itself was bright but held too much lighting in Kara's tired eyes' opinion.

It wasn't that, however, that caught the pair's attention.

It was the sight behind all the humans. Behind all the machines and clipboards.

Behind a giant, see-through glass.

There, laid a table with a struggling Superboy.

Kon was breathing hard, his bare chest bouncing in a way that Kara could only describe as hurtful. Sweat drenched his body; his hair sticking to his forehead in a gross looking way. Suddenly, his muscles contracted and his whole body tense up, his biceps and abs bulging while tears flowed out of Kon's eyes as he opened his mouth in what seemed like a scream.

She couldn't hear it.

Kon's wrists, ankles and torso were tied down with what looked like leather straps. However, with scientist, Kal thought, nothing is ever what it seems.

And, it was then, that had anger bubbling up inside of Kara.

She was off the ground in a second and heading towards her cousin before a hand found its way to her shoulder to stop her actions.

She looked towards her mentor; towards her cousin, to see him flaring. His eyes held an anger Kara hadn't ever seen before. His hand balled into a fist at his side as he looked towards her. She gently set herself down on the ground.

But that little jump of adrenaline wasn't nearly enough to sooth her rage.

"What's going on?!"

Kara's voice resonated through the room, every being with ears hearing her. Her fury evident and nothing looked like it could stop her.

"It seems like he's getting some kind of power."

Mr. Michaels spoke from behind them in a soft tone.

Supergirl snapped her head towards his voice, her eyes wide, not believing what she was hearing.

Mr. Michaels smiled.

"His Kryptonian powers it would seem."

Kara skipped a beat, something Supergirl hardly ever did.

However, right then, at that moment, she wasn't Supergirl. She was Kara Zor-El, a girl happy for her baby cousin who had felt out of place since the beginning of his life.

She was still looking at Mr. Michaels when her vision began to go teary, however, the soft sob didn't come from her.

Kara looked up to her younger cousin, seeing him covering his eyes and drag it down to his mouth and saw tears fall from his long eyelashes onto his hands as he tried to blink them away.

Kal looked relived.

"I thought we were going to lose him."

Superman couldn't bear the thought.

"He's going to be okay, right?" Trying to keep his voice even, Kal turned back to Mr. Michaels behind him.

He nodded.

The Kryptonians returned their gaze to their youngest, seeing him pant, wheeze for air, with his eyes closed. He started to relax on the table, however, Kal noted, Kon's eyes were still shut off from the world.

Or, more correctly, Kon was shutting his eyes from the world.

"Why is he reacting so badly? Neither I nor Kal had so many complications when adjusting to Earth conditions."

"It's sensory overload." Mr. Michaels stated. "All of his senses are trying to grow accustom to their new heights and it seems that in doing it in such a rapid timing makes it much more painful than your experiences. His ears can't handle the noises Earth permits, so we put him in a soundproof room. His eyes seem to be interchanging between laser, heat and x-ray, which is why his eyes are shut." Someone brought over a clipboard to Mr. Michaels and he quickly scanned the first page and skipped to the second. His eyebrows shot into his gray locks.

"It would seem his muscles are rapidly accommodating for their new strength."

"Why was he brought here?" Kara questioned suspiciously. "Why not the Justice League Watchtower?"

"Because," a deep voice behind her spoke, "a boy who can't control laser vision inside a tower in space with a dozens of humans who need air didn't seem like the wisest decision to me."

Kara spun around to see a "close" friend to her cousin: Batman. He, as per normal, was dressed in his all black protective covering with his utility belt. However, his cape was missing, leaving his strong body in the open, where he hated to be.

The Dark Knight's arm were crossed; the small fissure in his face-covering cowl set on display his frown.

"Just look what the boy did to Red Tornado." He said with a jerk of his head to the side.

On the two walls to the side, there were windows to rooms just like the one Kon was in. Three rooms in total, Kal couldn't help but notice. He also couldn't help but notice all the people who flooded the room. All of whom surrounded one table in the middle of all the chaos.

 _Like doctors on an operating table._

As soon as the thought crossed Kal's mind, a gap between the moving bodies came out, his face dropping in a sigh.

On a side table laid Red Tornado's head. Or, well, half of it. It looked like a clean cut drove diagonally starting from below Red Tornado's still flashing left eye to the side of his mouth. The rest of his body laid on a table much like the one Kon was on while technicians made sparks and whatnot on the half of Red Tornado's face that wasn't cut off.

"Superboy stays until he stabilizes." Batman said, leaving zero room for debate.

"How long until then?" Kara's voice was as anxious as ever.

Mr. Michaels passed the pair to stand closer to the Caped Crusader, however, never too close.

"That, unfortunately, is hard to say."

"Can we go in to see him, at least?"

"Of course."

Mr. Michaels had a strong suspicion that they would go in even if he had said no.

They both were about to begin for the door when Batman spoke.

"Superman."

The tallest of the Kryptonians turned, wondering what it could be now. They shared a look.

He turned to his older cousin. "Kara, go on. I'll be there in a bit."

She hesitated for a second, since every time Superman ever was around his "best" friend, he seemed to come back in a sour mood. She looked between the two, eyes going back and forth, before nodding. A gush of wind flew through the room, lab coats flying up along with strands of thin hair. Then Kara opened the door to her cousin.

"Hey Kon."

"Kara?"

His voice sounded strained, like he needed water.

Or like he'd been screaming.

"Yeah. Kal and I just-"

The door closed, cutting off the world from Superboy.

Or, Kal looked around the room, was it cutting off Superboy from the world.

He turned his bright blue eyes to meet Bruce's.

"What caused this?"

"That's what I was going to ask you."

Kal's shoulders sagged, not understanding his little brother's sudden come of his powers. He walked towards Mr. Michaels where he stood at the window, looking up and down to his clipboard and writing down his findings.

"Mr. Michaels?"

Kal believed he scared the man, in more ways than just surprising him. Albert jumped slightly in his work shoes as he looked to the reflection of the window; showing a towering Superman looming behind him.

He spun around, facing Superman.

"Well," his voice shook, "from our findings, there seemed to be no indication why his power suddenly spiked."

Superman hummed to himself, accepting the answer since he believed the scientist wouldn't lie to him.

He stepped towards the mirror, next to Batman, peering into the room, watching his cousin sit on the table that Kon's body provided little space on and take hold of his hand, contemplating why this was happening now.

"Perhaps," Batman whispered so quietly that only Superman could hear, "your DNA is stronger than we anticipated."

Kal saw the two lights of his life exchange words, Kara smiling slightly, or grimacing, depending on which angle she was seen from.

"Maybe." He whispered back.

"How's he been?"

"Fine." Kal started. "He's always felt left out, in the middle of me and Kara. I've always thought that if we could find a way to awaken his abilities, he would be happy. That he could feel closer to us."

"Closer than you three already are?"

Kal rolled his eyes.

The three Kryptonians were close. They cooked, watched television when they all had the time, went down to the farm together and, usually, patrolled together in Metropolis. However, Kal always felt that Kon felt apart from the other two.

"We're not _that_ close."

Batman pressed a button on the keyboard connected to the glass and Kara's voice filled the room.

"C'mon Kon. Just think of something cold. Something ice cold."

"Like your heart?"

Kal breathed out a laugh.

Kara looked directly to Kal, as if she could hear his little gust of laughter.

"You're fine."

Kon grinned.

Then his face dropped.

Then screams filled the room.

"What are in those bands?"

Kon thrashed this way and that, bumping Kara off the table, sending her flying in the air until she was flying herself. He pulled and tugged, but to no avail. His restraints kept him in place.

"A small amount of kryptonite," explained Mr. Michaels, "coated with a thin layer of lead as to not hurt the wearer. It does, however, revert his strength to human level."

Kal looked less than pleased.

"And you just happened to have those laying around?"

Nobody answered. Superman already knew.

He looked to Bruce, his expression heated in a "Are we done here?" manner.

Batman nodded.

Kal pressed the intercom button before flashing to the door and entering the room.

Kon had since calmed down and laid still on the table, taking deep, slow breathes, trying to regain composure. Superman went to his little brother's unoccupied side and took hold of his hand.

"Kal?"

"I'm here squirt."

"Where've hell have you've been?"

"Speaking with the scientist. They said you have to stabilize before you can leave. I said that I'll probably buy you a pizza when you do."

"No lie!?"

"No lie."

Kon's face scrunched up as if he was concentrating but, seconds later, his face fell, his eyes still closed. Kal let out a chuckle.

"You can't rush this Kon." He said, his voice light as a smile graced his robust features. "One step at a time. Now-"

Kara drowned out her cousin as she starred at him. His jaw line looked even more defined in this light; his nose even straighter. Blue shone as they took in the sight in front of him. He looked so happy, taking care of his little brother.

 _He always looked happy taking care of us._

Kal always enjoyed teaching the kids things about their powers; new traits that they didn't have to find the hard way, Kara thought. Like he did.

"Earth to Kara."

Kara's eyes refocused as she looked into Kal's. His big blues laced through his long eyelashes as he gestured towards Kon.

She looked down to see her youngest cousin looking up at her, annoyance flooding his tired eyes.

"You wanna get me out of this s&m contraption? Or am I gonna be stuck here?"

"Oh calm down, ya big baby."

Kal started on Kon's chest strap, except he didn't undo it. He snuck one finger underneath and flicked up. It came up, snapping in two, with minimal effort.

Kara didn't understand the need to do that when he could have just undone the strap with the buckle, however, without thinking, Kara followed his lead with Kon's wrist strap.

"Oh Rao!"

Kon was sitting up now, his face sad as he stared into his reflection.

"I look horrible."

Kara breathed out a laugh. "Yeah you do."

"Shut up, Bedhead."

"What have you done?"

J'nozz was out to his day job all day as John Jones, completely ordinary Bank Teller John Jones that no one would look twice thinking that he was the Martian Manhunter. He worked the usual eight-hour work day and came back to his usual apartment building. His flat, a two bedroom and one bath, held the necessities with a small kitchen – with no stove – and a living area that had only a couch, coffee table and a small TV so he could keep up with the news around the world. It was humble.

 _Definitely not a place the world would think the Martian Manhunter would live._

A martian that is twice as scary when angry.

"I don't know!" M'gann sat on the couch in front of her uncle, his green arms crossed as he stared down at his niece.

She turned away from his piercing gaze.

"I don't know?" Her uncle questioned. "Is that all you have to say for yourself? These human don't have the same customs we do. And, even so, we do not do such things on Mars."

His voice was even as he spoke to his niece however his expression was hard and looked as if it had been chiseled from rock.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." M'gann tried to reason. "This is my first relationship, Uncle J'nozz."

"M'gann." J'nozz sighed a heavy sigh, his shoulders sagged as if a great weight was on them.

"What if you had done something irreversible?"

"But I-"

 _Ring._

The sound came from the martian's pocket, the shrilling noise filling the dense room.

J'nozz reached into his pocket and answered the device.

"What is it?"

His voice was snapping, on edge. M'gann could understand why. Her uncle and the Kryptonian were good friends, they being some of the two only aliens on this planet. And if M'gann had done something to hurt the younger ones of his friend's family, there would no doubt be conflict.

 _There would be war._

"Which news?"

M'gann snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at her uncle, confusion filling her brown eyes. She tried to listen in on the other side of the line.

"Doesn't matter! It's on all the news."

J'nozz, using his telekinesis, flipped the television on, and what came on surprised both of them.

It was a small lady, dressed professionally in a beige business suit in front of some gated property.

"-has been brought to S.T.A.R. Labs early this morning. It is unknown why, but it seems Superboy, protégé of Superman, has caught a disease of some kind and has been brought inside this facility that specializes in everything extraterrestrial. There has been no word on whether or not this virus is dangerous to humans, however, what will become of the World if something of this magnitude can bestow our finest?"

M'gann stopped listening. Her heart was beating wildly inside of her chest; her mouth becoming dry as she tried to swallow the bile that was building up in the back of her throat. Her vision began to blur as her uncle's yellow eyes stared into her's.

"M'gann?"

"Conner."

"B:05 Miss Martian. A:07 Martian Manhunter."

Mount Justice was dead quiet as the two martians entered the main foyer. The training floor laid empty and not a voice could be heard in the vast tower.

Not until an average height, red head rushed into the room in a blur.

A blur M'gann knew as Wally West, A.K.A. Kid Flash.

"Hey, M'gann. You wouldn't belie-"

"Where is he!?"

Her voice was much harder than his light one. His green eyes flashed with surprise as little sweet M'gann, who had saved his life more times than he could count, yelled.

"Yo, chill. He's-"

"No! I will not chill!" She walked past him, pushing herself through the hallway he had just came from, repeating to herself that he couldn't die; that he was too stubborn to.

"Where is he?" She looked back towards the red-head. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine."

The voice spoke from behind her, a familiar tone that had M'gann on her last nerve. She turned and walked out of the hallway that led towards the hanger door that opened to the beach.

Supergirl stood, strong and tall – or as tall as her 5'2 stature could be – hands on her hips as she looked to the martian girl with disdain. Apparently the report about the team's mission had reached the tower.

"He better than fine."

Superman leaned against the opening of the hanger down, the little of his cape left over that wasn't trapped against his body weight flapping a little in the cool wind. He was looking up, at the clouds or the moon; M'gann didn't know. But, apparently it was something that caught the whole team, Batman and Black Canary's attention as they stood and sat on the edge, all looking too calm for the situation at hand.

Her confused expression must have caught the Man of Steel's attention, for her smiled a small smile. And then M'gann was more confused than she had been all day.

He jerked his head towards the night sky.

"Take a look."

She took slow steps towards the edge of the mountain, feeling the chilling wind against her hot face. Each step felt like a mile and her aching muscles protested.

When she finally did get to the edge, she looked up and saw what she expected. Clouds filled the sky, hues of orange and red filling the venue as dusk approached and another day went.

"We don't know what caused is, but he seems happy."

M'gann couldn't understand. Until she looked closer.

She saw it.

Blurs of black weaved in and out of the clouds, going this way and that, disappearing before M'gann could get a good look at what was happening. Until the shape was finished, a big castle – elaborate and beautiful – with so much detail, DeVincci would be impressed, and its creator spun out, arms wide, beaming with pride.

She saw him.

Superboy's smile was so wide that she believed it could spilt his face. . He was in uniform; a full body suit of black, red and blue. His shoulders were cladded in black, while his torso and arms held close to the blue spandex. His legs were framed perfectly in the red tights. His stark black boots and gold band accents held a pretty touch to the suit. The finish, however, was the House of El symbol plastered on his broad chest, separating the blue and black.

How happy he looked wasn't what caught M'gann's attention though.

Conner was flying.

Up in the air. A hundred feet above ground level.

M'gann starred, noting it wasn't a magic trick and that her boyfriend, the boy of steel, could finally show the world his greatness.

He floated down to everyone, but his gaze was zeroed in on M'gann, and he took her hand and began to lead her to the castle steps.

"C'mon."

"Conner!"

He began to pull her after him until she finally got her footing, floating in the air beside him as they pretended to step on the steps up to the entrance.

He caught her waist and zoomed them inside, giving the illusion that they were actually entering a castle and not just in some condensed water vapor.

When she was done spinning, she found that her arms were around Conner's neck and her body was flushed against his. And his eyes. His blue eyes were staring straight into hers and he looked happier than he ever has before.

He broke their gaze and looked around, at the clouds surrounding them and the water below them.

"What do you think?"

"You're perfect."

Conner's eyes snapped to her in surprise and they suddenly went down to her lips.

They were away from the peering eyes of their mentors, covered in mist and condensation and under the bright luminance of the full moon and the blanket of the stars.

Then he leaned forward and kissed her.

It was a soft kiss, their lips just touching enough for the act to be intimate and from the way he held onto her tight, she could tell that he wasn't mad at her anymore.

 _Did he really forget?_

Her hands reached up into his hair, however, it felt odd.

She pulled away from his lips and starred at his hair.

"It's curly."

It wasn't a question and Superboy didn't take it as one. He looked up at M'gann's thin green finger that was curly a strand around her finger.

"Yeah." Superboy couldn't explain it. His hair was usually straight and kept tidy. Now, because he's been flying, he could see strands fall into his vision and they were, indeed, curly.

"Maybe it's because I haven't been keeping still."

"Yeah, maybe."

M'gann knew why his hair was curly. She knew why Conner could fly. The pieces clicked inside of her brain as to why all these fortunes graced Superboy.

"I don't think I wanna keep still tonight either."

Just like that, all their problems were forgotten; all their fights and arguments were pushed out of her mind as Conner overtook every inch of her conscious. Conner seem to always have that effect on her with his steady voice and hard body. Everything about him made her feel like she was in an oasis and was safe enough to forget any and all concerns. As his words finally clicked, a blush overtook her cheeks.

"Conner!"

He pushed her closer to his chest, his hands on the small of her back. They were so close and she could her giggles escaping her lips as she threw her head back as her boyfriend left fleeting kisses on her neck and down her shoulder.

"M'gann."

Her uncle's voice spoke and for a second she was concerned that he had spotted the two in the act. Then she found that he was in her head, speaking through a telepathic link.

"Bad timing, Uncle J'nozz."

Conner continued to leave kisses across her skin, his hands going up and down her side slowly, leaving her shivering.

"M'gann, you must keep this to yourself. Do not tell anyone. And never do something like this again. This time had a nice ending but we may not be so lucky next time."

M'gann pressed her mouth to Conner's shoulder and looked down his back. His hands traveled her body in ways not foreign to her. She made no protest as his hand dipped underneath her skirt.

"Understood, Uncle J'nozz."


End file.
